By |December 6, 2012

New Jersey's first medical marijuana dispensary opens today after years of battles and bureaucratic delays in enacting a controversial law signed on former Gov. Jon Corzine's last day in office. reports the Newark Star-Ledger. The founders of Greenleaf Compassion Center in Montclair said only patients who recommended by their doctor, registered with the state Health Department, and scheduled for an appointment will be allowed to get through the door.

Today's opening will come after fights between Gov. Chris Christie, who said the law he inherited was too lax, and advocates who said he was taking too long to bring relief to patients in pain. As Christie and lawmakers wrestled over the program's rules, the health department — creating the program from scratch — encountered problems with screening potential dispensary operators. The governor stressed New Jersey would not resemble the “de facto legalization” of pot in Colorado and California, and put John O'Brien, a retired State Police lieutenant, in charge. New Jersey's medical marijuana law is the nation's toughest.

The legislation marks a major change for Republicans, who long hve embraced a law-and-order rallying cry. Now many GOP senators argue for rehabilitating more offenders rather than long-time incarceration.

An Arizona doctor argues that the government should have learned from previous federal anti-drug strategies that blanket prohibition doesn’t work. He calls for scrapping attempts to curtail opioids and replacing it with “harm reduction” policies.

Expensive medications for inmates can lead to substandard care and delays in treatment, and that may have lasting—even deadly—consequences for incarcerated individuals, writes a prison health care advocate.

Murder rates in the nation’s 30 largest cities are projected to fall by nearly 6 percent this year according to the latest data, undercutting claims that the nation is experiencing a “crime wave,” says the Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University School of Law.

School safety commission proposes ending a federal guideline telling schools not to punish minorities at higher rates. The panel largely sidestepped issues relating to guns, although it favors arming some school personnel.